My wife made a mistake

Medsker

2024 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 392
Location
Herriman, UT
Well I thought I would write about an incident that happened Sunday. We were hustling around to leave for Church. My wife, Janet was anxious to get going and I was finishing up a couple of things before we left. Janet went outside to start the Jeep to get it warming up. As you know there are a couple of ways to start a Jeep..there is the conventional way where one gets into the Jeep, pushes the clutch in, starts it, takes it out of gear, puts the parking brake on and exits the vehicle or the unconventional way. This one consists of reaching in, pulling it into 4-low, putting it in neutral and then starting it. Well Janet decided on the unconventional way...which she has done many times in the past. Unfortunately she forgot one of the steps...the putting it in neutral step.

I was standing over by the TV when I heard what sounded like...like a shelf full of metal tools tipping over. The noise however didn't stop it just kept getting louder. I didn't know what was happening I just knew that it wasn't right and I ran for the garage. I flung open the door and was extremely surprised to see my snowmobile sideways up against the door I was standing at and my Jeep trying to get over the top of it. I yelled "shut it off" which Janet did. When she started it she was trying to push the brake pedal down with her hand and in her panicked state didn't think about shutting it back off. I immediately jumped the snowmobile (I felt this in my back the next day) and ran to the passenger side of the Jeep and opened the door and asked Janet if she was OK. She said that she was, so I ran outside and asked my two girls if they were OK. They said they were fine also. I then started moving things in order to get Janet out of the Jeep. The more that I moved stuff to get her out the more I got amazed that Janet wasn't hurt. Everything I moved she had to have been dragged over. Most people who get dragged by a Jeep get their feet ran over by the back wheel also. I finally get her out. She was of course shaken up and was sporting bumps and bruises the next few days but other than that was unharmed. The other amazing thing was that my two girls, Jasi and Jade was getting into the Jeep when it happened. Jade fell out onto her tush and Jasi fell into a cement wall and twisted her wrist a little bit but still no serious injury. My snowmobile had been on the one side of the garage and a bunch of stuff from my basement had been on the other side. She turned the steering wheel slightly as it started going in which was very lucky because it meant that the snowmobile was pushed at an angle instead of straight on. This saved the snowmobile and meant that my expensive tool box only got dented instead of destroyed. We just shut the garage door (which I was very grateful was up when this happened) and went to church and cleaned it up later.

There were quite a few small things destroyed...my nice creeper, my halogen lamps, my mitre saw will never cut true again plus lots of small items like fire extinguishers and things like that. Luckily since my snowmobile is under my dad's name and miter saw is my dad's the car insurance will pay for them with no deductible. The rest would come out of home owners but with a $500 deductible we figure we will just replace those as we go along. Anyway a fun little adventure.

Hopefully everyone can learn from our mistakes and not be lazy and just get in to start their vehicles. When my wife called the insurance company the guy she was talking too said he did the same thing in his Toyota only he hit the back of his wife's car.

Medsker

Here are some pics. Pic 1 is what I saw when I opened the door. You can see what she got dragged thru in pic 2...and that was after I moved a bunch of stuff to get her out. Pics 3 and 4 are just of my sled.
 

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Brad J

Registered User
Location
Woods Cross, UT
Glad everyone's OK. Right after getting married my wife did the same thing to our Toyota truck w/ me in between it and my 73 Nova SS. I jumped into the air and got out of the way. The Nova's hood and grill weren't so lucky:( I still bring it up every so often:D
 

rxcarl5

Registered User
Location
Centerville,UT
Glad to hear everyone is ok. I did the same thing to my parents garage door with my 53 chevy car. My dad just laughed, my mom didnt see what was funny though.
 

Medsker

2024 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 392
Location
Herriman, UT
I was gonna ask.....how'd it start without the clutch in anyway?

It will start in 4-low without the clutch depressed.

I'm thinking if I can fix the snowmobile with minimum parts and buy everything that was broke I'll end up with about $500 in my pocket. The hood on my sled will still be scratched but I would have done that sooner or later anyway. Not a bad deal but definately not worth subtracting the ten years from my life like I'm sure it did.

My wife is feeling much better, the aches and bruises have healed at least to the point where I can pat her on the butt without her yelping...they haven't healed to the point where I can get any favors for her running over my sled yet however :D
 

lenny

formerly known as PokeyYJ
Location
Bountiful, UT
I think that the moral of the story is to park your jeep inside the garage so its warm to begin with.....

J/K

Good to hear nobody was seriously injured
 

Medsker

2024 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 392
Location
Herriman, UT
I think that the moral of the story is to park your jeep inside the garage so its warm to begin with.....

J/K

Good to hear nobody was seriously injured

I get my garage back as soon as the basement is finished getting framed in...hopefully tomorrow afternoon, and my sled is fixed...hopefully the parts will be in next Wednesday.

Medsker
 

waynehartwig

www.jeeperman.com
Location
Mead, WA
Wow! I just simply push the clutch peddle in with my hand, start it and let go. I've never thought of doing the 4 low thing. I think at that point, you might as well be sitting in the Jeep. I do this often because with a 6" lift, it's a lot easier than climbing in and out...

Oh, and i think there is a fuse or a relay you can pull to disable the clutch needing to be depressed to start it... Owners manual has that info.
 

Medsker

2024 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 392
Location
Herriman, UT
Oh, and i think there is a fuse or a relay you can pull to disable the clutch needing to be depressed to start it... Owners manual has that info.

They changed that in 2005 where it now just starts in 4-low with no fuse pull or anything so they eliminated the fuse.
 
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